Advanced Marksmanship Opinion: How much effect is mirage on accuracy?

[Enough Said]

Quarter-minute?
Half-minute?

If you experience a crisp sight picture on a run-of-the-mill range day, I'd suggest you utilize that day to the fullest by fine-tuning your dope and more importantly your confidence. Then, when mirage blurrs your sight picture, it will be no real matter, just an inconvenience.

 

[goober]

Re: Opinion: How much effect is mirage on accuracy?

So when your sight picture is blurred you going to shoot high right, low left , left or right of centre ?

 

[kraigWY]

Re: Opinion: How much effect is mirage on accuracy?

In my opinion mirage helps accuracy. Mirage shows air movement that does affect one's ability to put the bullet where he wants.

Understanding and the ability to read mirage gives one the ability to accuratly put the bullet on target.

Think of mirage as a wind flag. The flag doesn't affect the path of the bullet, but the same wind moving the flag does.

You can use the flag to determine the velocity of the wind and you can use mirage to determine the velocity of the wind.

As to a "blury target, its suppose to be blury, if not then you aren't concentrating on your front sight (or cross hair).

 

[707electrician]

Re: Opinion: How much effect is mirage on accuracy?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: kraigWY</div><div class="ubbcode-body">In my opinion mirage helps accuracy. Mirage shows air movement that does affect one's ability to put the bullet where he wants.

Understanding and the ability to read mirage gives one the ability to accuratly put the bullet on target.

Think of mirage as a wind flag. The flag doesn't affect the path of the bullet, but the same wind moving the flag does.

You can use the flag to determine the velocity of the wind and you can use mirage to determine the velocity of the wind.

As to a "blury target, its suppose to be blury, if not then you aren't concentrating on your front sight (or cross hair). </div></div>

Yes you can use the mirage to determine wind speed and direction but when you see that mirage, you should also know that the image you are seeing of the target isn't exactly where the target actually is due to the difference in the index of refraction of the air between your scope and the target

 

[kraigWY]

Re: Opinion: How much effect is mirage on accuracy?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">the image you are seeing of the target isn't exactly where the target actually is</div></div>

Well yeah,, but when you adjust for the mirage, then your bullet will go where the target is, not where the mirage thinks it is.

When I attended the NG MTU Coaches clinic one thing we did was set behind a shooter with a 100 MM spotting scope, spent all day watching him shoot in mirage without making any changes. We watched as the disk on the target marked where the bullet went, it gives you a pretty good ideal what mirage does.

It's hard to tell someone since everyone sees it different. It takes hours upon hours burning your eyes looking at mirage through a scope, but if you work at it, eventually you'll learn.

Another method is to volenteer to score for a good rifle team with a good coach. You have to be close enough to converse with him, which means you're close enough to hear his calls to his shooters. Make the calls, listen to his calls, then compair the two. Eventually you'll see what he sees.

I did this a few times. My first trip to the Wilson Matches (NG Championships) I scored for the NY NG team, they won the team matches and I learned a lot.

I think the best experience was scoring for the AMU team at a 1000 yard team match at 29 Palms. They won the match with a 799/800 and again, I learned a hell of a lot.

 

[Enough Said]

Re: Opinion: How much effect is mirage on accuracy?

ch`e - no, just when it's jumping around. For instance, your avatar looks like a picture of a dolphin viewed through a horrible mirage. LOL

Mirage is refracted light and if you think it has NO effect on your shooting other than calling wind, then you need to go back to school.

Give me a crisp target ANYtime. I'm a cold-bore shooter by choice. When only the first shot counts, I'd rather take it with less mirage than more...

Jeez...

 

[kraigWY]

Re: Opinion: How much effect is mirage on accuracy?

Wind is there whether you can see mirage or not, personally I'd like to know what the wind is doing. Mirage is pretty handy if you don't have any other indicators.

Of course the first shot is important. That's why you use mirage to determine how much to adjust for the wind.

There is no such thing as a no wind day. Sure it stops for a second or two, that's when it will get you. That's where mirage comes in handy. If its boiling hold up, if not a switch will get you.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> For instance, your avatar looks like a picture of a dolphin viewed through a horrible mirage. LOL</div></div>

More truth then fiction. Waren Page has a chapter in his book, "The Accurate Rifle" called "Shooting Through the Swimming Pool" that deals with mirage.

Yes we can all shoot pretty well if we shot in a vacuum, but that's not the case. There are several sorts of enviormental concerns out there, if we want first round hits, we need to learn to deal with them.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: Opinion: How much effect is mirage on accuracy?

Mirage is optical distortion. It displaces the appearance of the image, offset and away from its true location.

While it is logically plausible that we can apply experience and judgement in order to offset our aim in compensation, I really believe the best we can come up with is a canny guestimete, AKA a SWAG.

I don't think that's in any way a bad thing.

I just don't think that mirage and precision shooting really belong within the same concept.

To reiterate, I don't think it's a bad thing. In the absence of certainty, a SWAG is a good strategy; and probably the only reasonable approach as well. Sure beats a Ouija Board.

I think we do ourselves and our activity a disservice when we allow convictions of certainty to enter our minds about Long Range Marksmanship. It can be very good, but certainty and precision are not the sort of terms I cling to.

I prefer thinking in terms of higher and lower hit probabilites.

I think that calculations and applied experience can faver higher (highest?) probabilities, but that certainty is not a reasonable goal. A reasonable pursuit, yes; but only in the same context as when Benchrest shooters pursue the Screamer Group.

Seek it, but don't go around expecting it.

Greg

 

[Sterling Shooter]

Re: Opinion: How much effect is mirage on accuracy?

Turn down the power ring. High magnification is not needed to understand exactly where the barrel is pointed. There is no need to fight mirage unless the scope just has too much magnification even at its lowest setting. Remember, the eye naturally wants to balance and center things. so magnification is not only not necessary but becomes a distraction when the shooter has come to believe it's paramount to understanding the target/reticle relationship. It is the least of what's important.

One more thing, there are two discussions going on here: the one about mirage as constantly variable distortion, which my first paragraph addressed; and, mirage as an indicator of wind velocity/direction, which Kraig was addressing.

Generally, the spotting scope would be used for reading mirage while the rifle's optic would be focused on the target with magnification turned down if mirage was a distraction to a perception of aim.

 

[Enough Said]

Re: Opinion: How much effect is mirage on accuracy?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Greg Langelius *</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Mirage is optical distortion. It displaces the appearance of the image, offset and away from its true location.

While it is logically plausible that we can apply experience and judgement in order to offset our aim in compensation, I really believe the best we can come up with is a canny guestimete, AKA a SWAG. </div></div>

Thank you.

 

[goober]

Re: Opinion: How much effect is mirage on accuracy?

My original post was really saying where you going to shoot ? That depends on what the mirage is showing about the wind -1-4 right to left around 70deg wobbling air the dight picture will show a target lifting to the high left for example -wait watch for a clear moment and wind power down -how I would think about it anyway

 

[Matt700]

Re: Opinion: How much effect is mirage on accuracy?

Mirage also tends to make the target look different in size. I really dont mind mirage because it helps a lot with reading the wind. Always use it to your advantage.